Villanova Creeping Up

  March is just around the corner, and that means that March Madness is about to begin.  With the NCAA March Madness Tournament coming up it means there will be more and more talk about which teams will be the number one seed and which teams are on the bubble.  I think the team that has a very good chance of making it into the tournament this year is the Big East team Villanova.  The Wildcats have upset very good teams in the Big East.  For example, they beat Louisville, part of the Cardinals' three game losing-streak.  Villanova also upset the Syracuse Orange.  After beating Louisville, Villanova edged out the Orange in an overtime thriller.  The Wildcats had sent the Orange into a two game losing-streak and a three game road losing-streak.  They will be a team to look out for, with their ability to drain three-pointers in clutch moments.

By Ameen I.

Noel Finished

  Last night the Kentucky Wildcats were dominated by the Florida Gators.  That isn't the main storyline though, the main thing is the injury of Nerlens Noel.  When chasing after a defender on a hustle play, Noel banged his knee into the basket support and buckled his knee.  He was in serious pain, and the Wildcats had to carry Noel to the locker room.  The only good news out of this story is the fact that Noel did fly back with the team to Lexington, Kentucky.  Nerlens Noel has a torn ACL and will be out for the rest of the season.  This hurts the Wildcats in many ways.  For example, this team was getting back to normal and back to NCAA Tournament contention.  Now, Kentucky has a much lower chance of getting into the tournament.  This also hurts Noel's future career.  After sustaining an injury in college, he might not recover from it, meaning his knee won't have enough strength.  This could also affect his draft position if he enters the NBA Draft.  The team that selects him will have to make sure his knee is strong enough, then let him play.  We have seen these type of injuries to star players; Wes Welker, Adrian Peterson, and Derrick Rose.  Both Welker and Peterson are football players in the NFL.  Derrick Rose is on the Chicago Bulls, in the NBA and still isn't playing.  Peterson was the fastest to recover.  More and more ACL injuries have been popping up, but the rehab time has been getting shorter and shorter.  The usual time table for recovering from an ACL injury is 8-12 months.  Now, most recovering time is only 6-8 months.  I don't think Kentucky is going to be the team they were last season, and have to work extra hard to get into the NCAA Tournament in March.

By Ameen I.

Upset Alert

The Duke Blue Devils would play what they thought would be an easy team the Miami Hurricanes , but they were wrong. Even though Miami has been on a defensive roll, giving up less than 60 points in their past 3 games. They would not hold Duke to less than 60 points, but their offense was amazing and they only ended up giving away 63 points to Duke. This would be the first win for coach, Jim Larranaga over a number 1 team. Also, it would be the third highest margin of victory over a number 1 team all time.

The key to winning this game would be holding Duke to 19 points total in the first half. While the Hurricanes put up 42 points. Which is 23 more points. Mason Plumlee was not slowed down a bit though, he had 15 points and 11 rebounds for Duke. The key to victory for Miami would not be held in what people would think, stopping Mason Plumlee. It would be a combination of Shane Larkin, Kenny Kadji, and Durand Scott. Scott and Kadji would both have 20 point games. Scott ended with 6 rebounds and 25 points. Kadji had 22 points, 2 blocks and 2 steals. Plus Larkin would have 10 rebounds to make a double double with his 18 points.

After this game what do you think Duke's number 1 Ap poll turn into. Plus what will Miami's 25 turn into. Post what you think In the comments!

       By David B.

'Cuse in Trouble Again

          First, it was Bernie Fine involved with the child sexual abuse case.  Then, it was the Syracuse basketball drug scandle.  Now, it's James Southerland.

          As you may know, Southerland is already in suspention for academic issues.  But that is definatly not a first for Syracuse.  Anyway, the NCAA has decided to look into Syracuse's academic profiles.  There is a big chance that James Southerland's tutor wrote a proportion of his term paper.  This is not good for Syracuse because Southerland is their third leading scorer.  But, Syracuse has definatly found theirseleves in a lot of trouble over the years!


                                                   By: Tarky L.

The up or down teams

ESPN talks on the teams in college basketball going either way, up or down. By David B.

#2 loss

The Hoosiers were moved up to #2 in the NCAA Basketball team rankings. Now what will they be after a big time loss to an unranked Wisconsin? And What will happen to Wisconsin will they move to the top 25? ESPN.com